The invention relates to a compact disc (CD) holder for holding compact discs, and particularly to a CD holder that is made in one piece by integrated forming.
CDs are widely used recording media for storing digitized data such as music, movies or software. The commonly used CD at present is a circular disc with a diameter about 120 mm. It has a center hole. Around the center hole there is a central useless area about 15 mm in diameter (?). The area beyond the central useless area is the data area. The outer peripheral rim of the disc further has a useless area about 1 mm in diameter (?). The finished product of the general CD (i.e. music disc or software disc) is encased in a CD cartridge to avoid scrapping or damage. The conventional CD cartridge generally consists of a base, a lid and a coupling dock. The base and the lid are respectively made from transparent plastics by injection forming to become two elements. The lid has one side pivotally engaged with the base to form a case that may be opened or closed. The coupling dock is located on the base for clipping the compact disc to prevent the back light area on the front side or the data area on the back side of the CD from scrapping or being damaged. In order to latch the CD without damaging the data area, the latch area is located on the central useless area of the CD. The coupling dock has a multi-claw chuck in the center. The multi-claw chuck is slightly elastic. When the center hole of the CD is positioned on the multi-claw chuck and depressed, the multi-claw chuck lightly presses the center hole of the CD so that the CD may be anchored on the CD cartridge.
In order to enable the CD to be held firmly on the multi-claw chuck, the multi-claw chuck must be made sturdily. Hence users have to apply a substantial force to mount or remove the CD. Such an operation tends to warp or even break the CD.
After consumers buy music discs or software discs, they generally store the disc in the original disc cartridge after use. Then the disc cartridge is placed on a CD rack. There are also CD containers to store a plurality of CDs and facilitate retrieval or searching. Such containers usually can house a plurality of CD holders. In order to facilitate fetching and storing, the CD holder generally does not have a multi-claw chuck. Instead, the CD holder has a coupling section on the periphery to hold the CD.
Many different types of CD cartridges or containers have been developed and disclosed. References can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,533,615, 5,685,425, 5,845,771, 5,924,564, 5,938,020, 6,283,285, etc.
For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,533,615 discloses a xe2x80x9cDISC STORAGE CASExe2x80x9d which consists of a base, a lid and a coupling dock. It clips the CD on the peripheral rim rather than the center hole as the conventional techniques do. Hence its coupling dock does not have the multi-claw chuck. Instead, a movable depressing section is used. The depressing section has a front edge to press the peripheral rim of CD. Users may vertically depress the rear rim of the depressing section to move the front edge of the depressing section upwards so that the CD may be removed or stored. While it does not have the multi-claw chuck, it is still made in a cartridge form and has many elements. Production and assembly cost is higher.
Another example is U.S. Pat. No. 5,924,564 entitled xe2x80x9cDISK STORAGE DEIVCE WITH SPRING ELEMENTxe2x80x9d. It also consists of at least three main elements including a base, a lid and a coupling dock. The coupling dock has a hook in the center and a spring on the bottom rim. To remove and mount the CD, a user has to grasp the periphery of the CD with one hand and hold the base with another hand to push the peripheral edge of the CD towards the spring and compress the spring so that the center hole of the CD may be latched on the hook to anchor the CD. It uses the central useless area of the CD for anchoring. Production processes are quite complicated and cost is higher.
The primary object of the invention is to provide a CD holder that is made in one piece by integrated forming for holding compact discs. It employs a design different from the conventional CD holding methods adopted in the prior art mentioned above.
The CD holder according to the invention includes a holder body, which has a clip flange on one side and a cantilever arm on another side opposite the clip flange. The cantilever arm has a latch flap. The latch flap and the clip flange form a clipping zone for holding the CD. When the cantilever arm is still in a normal condition it may be moved in the horizontal direction against the holder body to expand the clipping zone and allow the CD to be mounted or removed.
The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.